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Thursday, July 12, 2012

I will be setting up dyepots this evening and cannot wait to dye more of this! John's vacation starts tomorrow and I have him home to help me, and to paint the house, for the next two weeks. First up is to take all of the pastel silks, I dyed with exhaust baths, and turn them into dark rich lucious colors like the ones in the photo above. Out with pastels in with yummy!

Yes even "I" have to deal with the issue of rot from time to time, I know many of you throw these pieces of fabric away, why I don't know but I have heard from many of you that you do so. Me, well I'm weird in that I look forward to the holes, the tid bits scraps left in the washer and dryer, as they are layers in my mind.

But what to do with the larger pieces that are thin and fragile? Simple back it with a sheer iron on interfacing and go forward! If need be used double sided interfacing and press it to a stronger piece of cotton fabric or canvas, when I've needed to do this I've used cotton flannel fabric as I love the way it needles for hand stitching.

Some tidbits of fabric from the dryer, I have a pile I collected from the washer drying on a rack.

More holes and I can't wait to stitch them!

Later this evening this batch of fabric will be placed into a dyebath of cutch and walnut, once it's achieved the appropraite tone of "sandstone" I will wash it, dry it, press it, and then cut it down to size. After all the logistics of placement is figured out I may back it with a sheer interfacing such as Misty Fuse (my favorite) as I really don't like putting netting/tull over the face of my textiles.

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If you want to throw your fabric away I understand, I really do! It simply does not fit with your vision and I know how difficult it can be to work with fabric, fibers, yarns, threads, etc., that do NOT fit in with your vision. If it's way cool rotted stuff just send it to me instead of throwing it away, I promise I'll turn it into something wonderful!

Four different earth pigments were used in combination with soy milk to color this piece of cotton cloth.

I'm often asked "how long do I really need to allow for my soy painted fabrics cure before I can wash them"? The anwser is depending on your climate/humidity a minimum of three to six weeks.

Tape was use to create resist patterns on the fabric. ﻿

The real anwser is how long can you stand to wait? The longer you wait the greater the permance of the dyes and pigments on the fabric. Yes the hand of the fabric will change the longer you wait, the piece in the top photo has been curing now for about 10 years, and it's stiff enough after all of this time to almost stand by itself unaided! I just found it this afternoon while sorting through a pile of fabrics that I had misplaced.

Three four yard plus pieces of fabric that have been sitting out all winter and spring in the garden area waiting for me to do something, anything, with them.

Can't wait to see what this piece looks like after the washing machine, am hoping for some serious deterioration! After a run through the washer then it's off to the alum pot and then time for a dye bath, am planning on something using walnuts and cutch for these pieces.

About Me

A Mixed Media Fiber Artist, I have been dyeing with natural dyes using local and sustainable materials since 1993. I teach surface design using natural dyes, rust dyeing, compost dyeing and other surface design techniques.